Things to do in Vilnius

What to eat in Lithuania | Traditional Lithuanian cuisine

February 20, 2019

VilniusFreeTour

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Potatoes potatoes and... more potatoes. That's how Lithuanian cuisine looks like when you first start searching for traditional local dishes. It is true in a some way. However, we have a lot more to put on the table.While tasting Lithuanian cuisine you will find a hint of German, Italian, Polish, Litvak cuisines. Here we introduce 5 most popular dishes you should try. However, if you wish to try and find out mor, don't hesitate to join Vilnius Food Tour.

1. CEPELINAI

Let’s start with classics. Cepelinai or zeppelins are massive potato dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms, or cheese, often garnished with fried minced onion and bacon or sour cream. It is pretty heavy dish, our recommendation is to order only half of portion. The half portion is one cepelinas, however, it will keep you full for the rest of the day!

2. ŠALTIBARŠČIAI

After cepelinai second most popular Lithuanian dish is šaltibarščiai. It is a cold soup made of beetroots, cucumber, spring onions, dill, boiled egg, and kefir. Everything is chopped, mixed and voila, soup is made. It is served with hot potatoes what we usually dip into the soup. Because of beetroots soup gets its pink color so don‘t worry if you forgot that complex name of this soup. Just say that you want pink soup and everybody will understand you.

3. KIBINAI

Kibinai are traditional pastries filled with mutton and onion brought by Karaite ethnic minority in Lithuania. Although you can try it Vilnius, the most authentic place to eat Kibinai is Trakai. That's where Karaites live until this day.

4. Fried bread

Lithuanians really like beer (and we think that our beer is the best) and we have some snacks to eat while drinking beer. The most popular and the most delicious is fried bread. You can even prepare it at home by yourself, it’s very easy. You just need to fry some black bread and when it will become hard and crispy, rub it with a clove of garlic and sprinkle with salt. Another possible way is to fry bread and make sauce from mayonnaise, cheese, and garlic. Try it at the bar and you won’t regret.

5. Šakotis

And I will finish this list with sweets. Šakotis (which means “branch”) is a cake made of butter, egg whites, and yolks, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire. Lithuanians usually eat that during big celebrations like Christmas, New Year or weddings. Biggest šakotis was made in Lithuania in 2015 and it was 3,7 meters high.

Make sure to share you most favoutite dish on instagram @vilniusfreetour

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